December 12 - BEDTIME STORYLiverpool Echo Nov 22 "Why are the Mersey tunnels closed at night?".
This story largely seems to have been provided by Merseytravel. It is difficult to tell if there are too many closures. Though what happens now is nothing like the chaos and congestion that Merseytravel used to cause with their daytime closures of one of the Wallasey tubes.

On the 25th November the Globe editorial was about the devolution deal and was headed "Deal must include tunnel tolls".
The editorial ended - "It is to be hoped that when they all sit down at the negotiation table, at the top of their agenda will be written the simple slogan "Scrap The Tolls".

Then in the 2 December print edition there were two letters on devolution and the tolls. Neither letter appeared on the web:

Paul Nuttall, a local MEP and deputy leader of UKIP had a letter "Appalling plan to pocket cash". The letter was about the "devolution deal" which the Combined Authority says includes the Tunnels. The letter starts "PLANS for Mersey Tunnel toll fees to be pocketed by the Liverpool City Region are a disgrace" and ends "In my book, user's needs includes not being subject to this highway robbery".

The other letter was from us and was headlined "Devolution not about toll cuts:
"I have seen your story in the Globe which includes "One of the
key elements to the devolution deal surrounds the Mersey Tunnels, with
the combined authority asking the Government to pay off the debts on the
tunnels together with allowing the freedom to set toll levels locally."
The Combined Authority was asking for permission to use the tolls on more things and in particular on economic development.

They were also asking for local control of tolls, but this was a nonsense as under the 2004 Tunnels Act and previous legislation they have the power to reduce or remove tolls for some or all categories of vehicles at some or all times.

The Government could not give the Combined Authority a power that they already have.

Having said that, what is in the current 'Phase 1' version of the devolution agreement is very vague and ambiguous (and makes no mention of paying off the debt) -
"The Department for Transport will continue to work with the Liverpool City Region in the review of the tolls on the Mersey Tunnels being undertaken by the Combined Authority, which considers the options open to the Authority to reduce the cost of tunnel tolls and its impact on infrastructure and the ability to accelerate economic growth.""

October 18 - MERSEYTRAVEL CAUSE MORE CHAOS WITH THEIR "FAST" TAG LANEL'pool Echo Oct 14 "Rush-hour chaos at Wallasey tunnel after 'technical issue' with fast tag lane".
Dedicating a lane to a particular type of traffic is unfair as it benefits some people at the expense of others, but potentially far more important is that it increases the risk of accidents on the approach to the toll booths.
As for what Merseytravel think of the drivers that they loot, have a look at the two comments at the end of this Echo story.

We sent a Freedom of Information request to the City Region aka Merseytravel asking some questions about the 'task group' that was supposed to be set up in February to look at the tolls -

1. Have the 'terms of reference' been drawn up, and if so then can we have a copy?

2. Has this task group been set up and if so -

2.1. Who is on it?.

2.2. On what dates have they met?

2.3. Can we have copies of all the information that has gone to the group (meeting agendas, reports and minutes)?

Late yesterday we got an answer which confirms that this task group is more nebulous than thin air - "At this stage I can confirm that membership and terms of reference for the group have not yet been determined and so the group has not met. On this basis, I am unable to provide the detail as you have requested."

September 24 - WIRRAL COUNCIL POSITION
Though it is clear that the Labour run Liverpool City Region intend to continue to plunder Tunnels tolls it is not clear what the position is of the Government or Wirral Council. But the Minutes of a committee of Wirral Council held last week have just been published and they indicate that Wirral Council will do nothing to stop the plunder -
Wirral Council - "Policy and Performance Committee - Regeneration and Environment Committee 15 Sep - minute of item 12"
The committee were questioning a director of Merseytravel. They had the opportunity to ask about what was being done to stop the plunder. Instead members of all parties ignored the issue and their only pleas were for more 'Fast Tag' lanes and a smaller top-up charge.

The committee at the same considered a related report - "Transport Levy". The report said that "Services funded by Merseytravel include the cost for ... the tunnels."
It is incorrect and misleading to say that the levy funds the Tunnels. The real situation is that Merseytravel have been taking part of the tolls money for the last twenty years to spend on non Tunnels activities. The Combined Authority budget for the current year (2015/16) does not have a Tunnels deficit that would need to funded by the levy, there is in fact a budgeted surplus of 15.8 million pounds.
It is not clear whether this disinformation is meant to fool the public, but we believe that most Wirral councillors do realise the real situation and are quite happy for it to continue despite the damage that tolls cause to the Wirral.

September 22 - SOLD DOWN THE RIVER?
At the City Region budget meeting in February, Joe Anderson, the Liverpool Mayor, said that he wanted to put a stop to Merseytravel using the profits from the tolls our transcript. He got the City Region to agree to set up a task force on this. Some people suggested that this move was insincere and no more than an election ploy, but the MTUA decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. We wrote thanking the Mayor and saying that we would want to contribute to their deliberations on what should happen with the tolls. We got no reply.

Then in April we asked the authority - "Who is on the task group?" and "What were the dates of the meetings that have so far taken place?" The answer that we got in May is that there had been no meetings. This seemed to indicate that Merseytravel had succeeded in burying the proposal.

Also in April we tried again to contact both Joe Anderson and Phil Davies, the Leader of Wirral Council who is also chair of the City Region and who in February said that what Joe Anderson proposed was "eminently sensible" and that the tolls seemed 'to go up inexorably year after year and that he hoped 'we can .. make a decision to lift this huge burden". They did not reply. We wrote again at the end of June, again with no reply.

Despite not replying to us, during the election campaign it was reported that the two Council leaders and Ed Milliband had made statements about the promised review with Joe Anderson saying that the aim was to "reduce the cost of tunnel tolls". These statements from Labour leaders may well have been crucial, particularly in Wirral West where the tolls were a major issue and where Labour was trying to counter Tory claims that they would reduce or abolish the tolls.

Then three weeks ago there were stories about the Region making a submission to the Government asking for more powers - including over tolls. This was a bit odd as the authority already have the power to reduce or waive tolls and they are not forced to take profits from the Tunnels.

On page 7 it 'asks' for "Legislative clarity on the ability to utilise tunnel toll income for wider economic development purposes."

And on page 13 it says they they "wish to" "Secure greater influence over the tolling regime that governs the use of the Mersey Road Tunnels, to ensure that it fully supports the city region’s transport policy framework" and "asks" "We want government to pay off the debts on the Mersey Tunnels and give us freedom to set toll levels on our own terms. Paying the debt will help create a bigger investment fund that we can reinvest in local transport. More control over the tolls will also allow us to vary toll levels by time of day, by engine type or in response to users’ specific needs."

After the meeting the chairman of the authority said that the purpose of the request to the Government was so that they could use tolls to "reinvest in the local economy" and that "it would be nice to think that we could look, at some point in the future, at reducing tunnel tolls" Part of Radio Merseyside news report on 2 Sep (50 seconds audio).

So it has slowly become clear that the City Region have done a u-turn on what they said in February and plan to plunder the tolls while promising that tolls may be reduced on the 12th of Never.

The MTUA have contacted all members of Wirral Council about this and so far there has been little response. We are assuming that the Labour and Lib Dem members will sit on their hands, but we are hoping that the Conservative members will press the Government to honour what the Chancellor and others said before the May elections about removing Tunnels tolls.

July 9 - BUDGET FUDGE
There had been speculation that in yesterday's budget speech, the Chancellor would say something about tolls on the Mersey. What he did say made no mention of tolls, but there was something in one of the documents that was published yesterday HM Treasury - HC264 Summer Budget 2015 report (this is a very large pdf file). At bottom of section 5.5 'The Northern Powerhouse' it says -
"The government is looking at extending Mersey Gateway bridge toll discounts to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, with final decisions to be made in early 2016. In addition, the government will work with relevant local partners carrying out a review of the tolls on the Mersey tunnels."
This statement falls far short of what was said during the election campaign and it looks as if the Tory Government and Labour Merseytravel will be collaborating to keep things as they are, with users of the Tunnels (and most users of the bridges at Runcorn) as their prey.

July 9 - QUESTIONS FROM MPs
On 15 June the new Labour MP for West Wirral had a written question- 'To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review Merseyside tunnel tolls and set out the (a) scope, (b) participants, (c) timetable and (d) completion date of such a review.'
The reply from a DfT minister (Andrew Jones) was- 'I have asked officials at the Department to engage with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority regarding a review of tolls on the Mersey Tunnels. Discussions on the scope, timing or duration of such a review remain ongoing.'
Then on the 30 June there was a follow-up written question from the Ellesmere Port & Neston MP- 'To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2015 to Question 2544, what steps his Department is taking to consult Mersey Tunnel users living outside the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Area on the toll review. '
The reply from the same DfT minister was- 'The review of Mersey Tunnel Tolls is being undertaken by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. My officials are discussing with them how their review will meet the Government’s aspirations, including ensuring consultation with interested parties both within and adjoining the Combined Authority area.'
The review that is referred to seems to be the review that Joe Anderson, the Liverpool Mayor, called for in February and which seemed to have then been killed off by Merseytravel. It looks like the Tories may have forgotten the promises that they made before the election and that Tunnel users will left in the clutches of Merseytravel.

June 10 - ANOTHER SO CALLED 'TRIAL'Liverpool Echo Jun 9 - "Mersey Tunnel opens second fast tag lane".
Merseytravel are introducing a two class system, and there is no 'trial' as they have no intention of withdrawing this system despite it increasing the chances of accidents when drivers who are not aware of the system realise that they are in the wrong lane.

June 2 - ALAS
A letter from the MTUA - Wirral Globe Jun 2 - "Tunnel toll woes".
Comments from Globe readers include - "Tolls are here to stay! Get over it" and "Pathetic - clearly nothing else to do but moan and for what a 10p increase to £1.70. Still the cheapest in Europe." It seems that the 'Friends of Merseytravel' are not aware that tolls have been removed in some other places and that the Tunnels are one of the most expensive crossings in Britain. There are few places on mainland Europe where you have to pay a toll to get from one side of the city to the other.

May 13 - TILL THE 12TH OF NEVER
During the election campaign, Labour said that the tolls were being reviewed by a "task group". On the 21st April we contacted Merseytravel to ask what was happening and who was on this "task group". The MTUA did not get an answer till Friday: the day after the election.
The answer that we got from Merseytravel said that: "The Combined Authority is in the process of drawing up detailed terms of reference for this review and are identifying the resources required to undertake a review of this nature. As such, formal terms of reference are yet to be determined."
This answer means that three months after this review was promised, they have not even started. It is no wonder that Merseytravel did not admit this till after polling day.
Given that Labour have also said that any changes to the tolls would require a change to the Tunnels Acts, it seems that the intention is that nothing will be done till the day when the "Cow jumps over the Moon", while the notorious 2004 Tunnels Act allows Merseytravel to continue to "run away with the spoons".

May 13 - POST THE ELECTIONWirral Globe May 13 "So, Chancellor, about these tolls...".
The Leader of Wirral Council says that "As part of that review that has already been kicked off, I think we will inevitably have to get into a discussion with the civil servants and ministers at the department for transport, because if we are going to change the way the tunnels are funded and start to bring them down, we’ll need to get into a dialogue with them because the Tunnel Act will need to be amended".
As far as we know, the review has not "been kicked off", and it is likely that Merseytravel will want to see the proposal that their profits are stopped kicked out of play.
The proposal that the Wirral Leader seconded in February was not about "change (to) the way that the tunnels are funded", it was to stop Merseytravel's profits so that the tolls could be substantially reduced.
We see from an added comment that it is odds on that there will be a toll increase next year and that it is 20,000 to 1 that the tolls will ever be removed. If the odds stayed the same then the Government could put a million pounds down, remove the tolls and get twenty billion pounds back. Just enough to pay for tolls removal!

May 9 - POST SCRIPT TO GEORGE OSBORNE'S TOLLS PROMISE

It probably means nothing now that Wirral voters have rejected the Conservatives but this is the last Wirral West election flyer, and this is what Esther McVey's office was emailing out on the eve of the General election: "Hello Mr and Mrs XXXX,

I'll start with the great news that, on Monday, the Chancellor George Osborne came to Wirral at my invitation and confirmed that a Conservative Government will cut the Mersey tunnel tolls for Wirral residents and small businesses. He went even further saying he felt "confident they could be abolished all together."

One of my first campaigns, more than 10 years ago, was to oppose the previous Labour Government's decision to give Merseytravel the freedom to increase the tolls through the Tunnels Act 2004 and so I am delighted that the Chancellor has agreed to help Wirral in this way. You can read more about this in the Wirral Globe here.

Best wishes,
Esther McVey
Conservative Candidate for Wirral West

May 8 - MORE ON ELECTION RESULTGeneral election:Liverpool Echo May 8 "Tunnel tolls to be cut or even scrapped if Tories stick to election vow".
Most of the attention on Merseyside has focussed on Wirral West where Esther McVey lost to Labour by around 400 votes. Given that the result was so close, what the Greens did probably clinched the seat for Labour.
The Greens had fielded candidates for all Wirral wards, without exception, and in Wirral West, the Greens got 2,376 votes for their Council candidates. It was different with the General election, the Greens did not put up a General election candidate for Wirral West, though they had for the other three Wirral constituencies.
In Wirral West, the Greens got 2,376 votes for their Council candidates. Given that the Greens had no parliamentary candidate in Wirral West, it is likely that nearly all of those 2,376 votes went to Labour in the General election. Indirectly the Greens seem to have squashed any chance of the Tunnels tolls being removed or reduced.Our summary of Wirral election results(pdf file).

May 8 - ELECTION RESULT
Whether the Conservatives or Labour won nationally was not likely to make any difference to Tunnel tolls. What might have made a difference was who won the Merseyside constituencies. And the result on Merseyside was that voters returned all the sitting MPs, apart from the only one who might have done something about the tunnel tolls - Esther McVey who lost Wirral West to Labour by just over 400 votes (18,898 to 18,481).Wirral Globe May 8 "As David Cameron looks set to sweep victory, Esther Mcvey loses her seat in Wirral West"Liverpool Echo May 8 "Conservative Esther McVey loses Wirral West after bitter election battle with Labour".
It looks as if there is not a single MP on Merseyside who will take the slightest interest in the tolls, apart from possibly Frank Field, Labour MP for Birkenhead.
We assume that George Osborne's promise about Tunnel tolls will be forgotten as there will be no one there to remind him. David Cameron's priority is likely to be giving more money and power to the Scots. In Scotland the SNP took 50 out of 59 seats. Half of those who voted did not vote for the SNP, so if there had been proportional representation the SNP would have got 20 less seats.

May 6 - REVOLUTION IN SCOTLAND, BUT PROBABLY LITTLE CHANGE IN ENGLAND
It is still 50:50 as to whether Labour or the Conservatives will have the most MPs after Thursday, but it seems likely that the SNP will have the balance of power: Electoral Calculus.
The SNP removed all the tolls in Scotland, as this story mentions: ITV May 6 "Labour braced for rude awakening in Scotland". There is probably no chance that the SNP will care about the English paying tolls, but who knows?

May 5 - BIT MORE ON GEORGE OSBORNE'S TOLLS PROMISELiverpool Echo May 5 - "General Election 2015: William Hague says Esther McVey could be future Prime Minister".
William Hague also says "People have been paying for the tunnel for a very long time, for decades now, and they never expected to be paying for it for so long.”
In fact they have been paying Tunnel tolls for over 71 years and the last five of those have been during a Tory / Lib Dem Coalition government who did not lift a finger to stop the Labour run Merseytravel from plundering the tolls to spend on whatever they liked.
Why should users of the Tunnels expect anything different after the election?

May 2 - TUSSLE ON THE WIRRAL
On Thursday there was a Roger Phillips show from West WirralThis is the part where the question of tolls was raised (audio)
You will notice that the Labour candidate does not give any view of the tolls. Instead she refers to a letter in which she says the Coalition Government refused to take the Tunnels "out of payment", this is misleading as you will see if you look at our story on 24th April 'Merseytravel Have a Laugh', which includes links to the letters.
The Lib Dem candidate says that he wants the Tunnels to be free, but he was a Wirral Lib Dem Councillor, while his party and Labour consistently voted down any motions that supported the users of the Tunnels.
The UKIP candidate joins in the attack on the Conservative candidate and calls her a 'Johnny come lately'. The MTUA is aware that the Conservative candidate has been raising the issue of Tunnel tolls for a long time.

April 29 - POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACKBBC Apr 22 - "Road tolls: Paying more to use our A roads".
Many Tories are pro tolls, but for the Lib Dems to accuse the Tories is laughable. When the Commons passed the infamous Tunnels Act in October 2003 (it then went to the Lords), every one of the 33 Lib Dem MPs who voted were in favour of Merseyside drivers becoming a cash cow for Merseytravel. And one of those Lib Dems voting for the Tunnels Act was the same Norman Baker who is now weeping crocodile tears about tolls.

April 29 - ED REPEATS LABOUR 'PROMISE'"Labour leader Ed Miliband writes for the Globe" Apr 29.
The Labour leader tells the Globe that "It is extraordinary that the Tories have had five years in government and 19 days before an election they suddenly promise a ‘review’ of tunnel tolls. A review that was already happening under Labour."
He is correct that it is extraordinary, though most people think that it was also extraordinary when having used the users of the Tunnels as a cash cow for over ten years, the Labour run Merseytravel decided to have a 'review' and Joe Anderson said "I think that all the profits that are made from the Tunnels should go into driving down the Tunnel tolls". That was back in February and as far as we can tell this review has disappeared into the mist. We have asked Merseytravel who is carrying out this review and when they have met. So far we have had no answer. Neither have the Tunnel Users had any response to messages that we have sent to the Liverpool Mayor and the Leader of Wirral Council.

April 27 - SIGNS THAT THE LABOUR REVIEW OF TUNNEL TOLLS WILL NOT CHANGE ANYTHING
On March 16 following a tip from Wirral blogger, John Brace we reported on a question about tolls that was to be put to the Wirral Council Leader by the leader of the Wirral Lib Dems.
The question implied that the Lib Dems were alarmed that Merseytravel might no longer be allowed to plunder the users of the tunnels.
You can see the question and answer here: You Tube - "Council 16th March 2015 Wirral Council Part 1".

The review was announced on 13 February and was supposed to be about stopping Merseytravel from profiting from the tolls. But the Wirral Council Leader who in February seconded this proposal now says that the review is not only about tolls but is about Tunnels debt. He also says that the terms of reference for the review and the final report will take account of the Lib Dem concerns. This seems to mean that the plunder is to continue.
The Council Leader also says that "the terms of reference are still being finalised". As this was a month after the decision to have the review, this is a sign that Merseytravel have managed to run the review into a siding and that they will continue to get their profits for many years to come.

April 26 - MORE ABOUT TOLLS REVIEW BY GEORGE OSBORNEThe latest election leaflet in Wirral West repeats the Tory statement that they will 'review' the tolls.
There are one or two inaccuracies in the leaflet, including the statement that Merseytravel profits from the Tunnels are "projected to rise this year from £7.7m to £9.7m". In fact the profit that Merseytravel are expecting from the tolls this year is £15.9 million.

But we are mainly puzzled why the leaflet does not make it clear what the aim of the review is.
Last Thursday the Chancellor was interviewed by Phil McCann, the BBC's political correspondent for Cheshire. The Chancellor spoke about residents not paying tolls at Halton and continued: "I am confident we will be able to create a similar scheme for residents on the Wirral so that they don't have to pay the tolls."

Liverpool Echo Apr 23 - "General Election 2015: Labour accuse Tories of 'empty promise' on tunnel tolls".
The letters which have just emerged were the result of a stunt that they pulled in February 2013 at the same time as they were again putting the tolls up.
There were the usual laughable Merseytravel claims that since time immemorial they had been asking for Government help and it had been refused.
We asked Merseytravel to prove this and they could not. All they could produce was a letter that was as feeble a request as you could imagine and a reply from a civil servant, who obliged Merseytravel by giving them the answer that they wanted.
Here is Merseytravel's letter and the 'Government' reply, so you can judge for yourself how hard Merseytravel were trying.

There is also nothing about any tolls in the Labour party 2015 manifesto, even though some of their candidates have made promises about a 'review' of the planned tolls on the bridges at Runcorn. Labour do however promise to "promote cycling", so perhaps they will turn one of the Tunnels over to the cyclists!

In the Lib Dem 2015 manifesto, there is a promise that "to help create jobs and boost growth in Wales, we will abolish the economically distorting tolls on the Severn Bridge once
the debts are paid off." As the debt is almost paid off this would mean that the tolls for entering South Wales would go within a year or so. There is nothing about any other tolls.

In the UKIP 2015 manifesto, they say "We will remove road tolls where possible and let existing contracts on running road tolls expire. Motorists are already taxed highly enough through fuel and vehicle taxes." It is not clear what this means, but UKIP are campaigning on the basis that it means removing tolls such as those on the Mersey Tunnels.

In the Green Party 2015 manifesto, they say that they will "Introduce road-pricing schemes such as the London congestion charge and road-user tolls for heavy lorries." In fact tolls for HGVs were introduced in April last year, though it is called a 'road user levy'. The promise of more 'congestion charge' schemes will probably only appeal to masochists.

South of the 'border' you can not vote for them, but in the SNP 2015 manifesto, they remind voters in Scotland that "the SNP Scottish Government has taken forward policies designed to support households through the recession. For example, we have frozen the Council Tax, removed prescription charges and road tolls, increased free nursery provision, provided free school meals in the early years of primary school and reintroduced free university education."

April 20 - TOLLS AND THE MAY ELECTIONS
Well done to Esther McVey for raising the Tunnel tolls as an issue for this election. The MTUA would however question why her Government failed to do anything over the last five years and why the Conservatives did not mention tolls in their 2015 election manifesto.

Labour have referred to the review of tolls that the Labour run Liverpool City region promised in February. This review was proposed in a motion moved by the Mayor of Liverpool and seconded by the Leader of Wirral Council. At the time we welcomed this, but it seems that the review of the tolls is being carried out by Merseytravel. No prizes for guessing what they will say.

The Lib Dems have kept quiet about the Tunnel tolls (though their election manifesto says that they would abolish the tolls payable on the Severn crossing into Wales). It is clear to the MTUA that though the Lib Dems don't want the Welsh to pay tolls, they have no intention of supporting any move to remove or reduce Tunnels tolls.

The only party that has said that they would remove all tolls is UKIP. Their manifesto says - ENDING ROAD TOLLS
"We will remove road tolls where possible and let existing contracts on running road tolls expire. Motorists are already taxed highly enough through fuel and vehicle taxes."
Unfortunately though UKIP are most likely to come third in the popular vote, they will possibly not have a single MP.

So it seems that all that users of the Tunnels can expect from parties that are likely to form the next Government is vague promises that will never materialise and that Merseytravel will carry on skimming the tolls as now.

The joker in the pack is the SNP who are expected to be third biggest party in the Commons after the election and whose support will be needed by the next Government. The SNP removed all the tolls in Scotland six years ago, but it is unlikely that they will care about removal of tolls in England.

April 19 - WHY?
A letter in the Wirral Globe on the 8th asked - "Why are we still paying for the Mersey tunnels?".
The short answer is that we are still paying because we have been ripped off and the public misled by politicians over many years, but particularly since Merseytravel took over.

April 18 - AN "ANNOUNCEMENT"
At their meeting yesterday the City Region resolved that -"102.ANNOUNCEMENT
A Member of the Combined Authority requested that on behalf of the
Authority the Chairperson write a letter to the Government indicating that their recent
announcement relating to the abolishment of Mersey Tunnels tolls was not appropriate."
It is not clear what annoyed the Region as there is no trace of any 'Government' announcement. It would be very surprising if there had been one as the Purdah rules prevent both local and central government from making announcements about any new or controversial government initiatives which could be seen to be advantageous to any candidates or parties in the forthcoming election. For the May elections, Purdah began on the 30 March.

March 21 - BUS OPERATORS RULE?
On 14 March we reported on our meeting of the 11th March with Merseytravel. One question that we had meant to raise with them was what had happened with a request that we first raised in October 2013. We had asked about some bus-stops, in particular the one just before the access to the Wallasey Tunnel going along Scotland Road from the city centre. We had asked: 'Can either these stops be relocated or something else be done to improve this approach, possibly by using some of the space which is presently grass or otherwise not used.'

18 months later and we have just had an answer:
"A discussion has taken place with bus operators with a view to these changes, who have informally advised that any installation of a layby at this location will result in significant delays for the bus operations and as a result they would not support such. Bus Operators have indicated that if a layby was installed, then they would simply stop using the bus stop for drop off or collection. Due to the impact on our bus operations we felt the installation of a layby is not something that we intend to pursue at this stage."

It seems that what the bus operators say is more important than the main lane going from the city centre to the Wallasey Tunnel being blocked if a bus is at the stop. We have asked Merseytravel who these 'bus operators' are.

March 19 - BUDGET: SEVERN CROSSING TOLLS TO BE REDUCED
Yesterday in his Budget speech the Chancellor said "The Severn crossings are a vital link for Wales. I can tell the House we will reduce the toll rates from 2018, and abolish the higher band for small vans and buses. It is a boost for the drivers of white vans—let me reassure the deputy leader of the Labour party that it will apply to pink vans, too."Wirral Globe Mar 18 - "Budget promises tolls cuts for the Severn Bridge - but not for Mersey Tunnels".

The MTUA told the Globe "If the Chancellor is reducing the Severn Bridge tolls in 2018, as he claims that he is, then why on Merseyside are we faced with the situation of ever-increasing tolls?"

In fact the Chancellor was acting no better than a card sharp trying to deceive what he hoped was a gullible public who did not know the real situation.

The Act that authorised the construction of the Second Severn Crossing stated that the tolls should be removed when a certain amount had been collected by the concessionaire. That point would have been reached by now and the tolls should already have been removed. But from 2003, following a European ruling on privately operated tolls, the Labour Government decided that part of the Severn Crossing toll was to be treated as VAT and kept by them. This VAT charge reduced the net amount that the Concessionaire received each year, and had the effect of putting the date that tolls should be removed back to about 2018.

So the Chancellor was not announcing a tolls reduction. In effect he was really saying that though the tolls should be stopping in 2018, they would continue, albeit at a slightly reduced rate. The Chancellor is no better than the Merseytravel pirates who profit from the Mersey Tunnels.

The Globe has the Labour MP for Wirral South criticising the Chancellor. What she does not say is that she is a supporter of Merseytravel and after last year's toll rise, she said in the Wirral News that Tunnel tolls were a "cheap" way to cross the river!

March 19 - MPs IGNORE OPPOSITION TO TOLLS AND CALL FOR A BIGGER STICK TO BEAT THOSE WHO DON'T PAY
On the 17th the Transport Committee of MPs (from all the main parties) published a report on 'Strategic River Crossings' - Parliament page which includes link to the report.

They had called for evidence which included the question of whether river crossings should be tolled.
But in its report the committee completely ignored the evidence against tolling. Instead the committee want new crossings to be provided by the private sector and to be tolled. The committee is also calling for stronger measures against drivers who fail to pay at crossings where there are no barriers, such as at Dartford.

March 16 - TORY PARTY DOES NOT EQUAL MTUA - In her latest newspaper which is delivered to 55,000 people in West Wirral, Esther McVey MP seems to be claiming a large slice of the credit for the recent u-turn on tolls and toll rises. She also fails to mention the MTUA, though she has a picture of a MTUA demonstration where she showed her support.

It would be great if the Tories were doing something about the tolls, but the reality is that after five years in Government they have done nothing about the Tunnels tolls, instead they endorsed the Labour plan to toll the bridges across the Mersey at Runcorn.

Esther says that she wants "a permanent discount to be given to regular tunnel users, most of whom are from the Wirral". She should know that there is no chance of that.
Her own Government submitted evidence last October to the Transport Committee of MPs at Westminster who were looking at 'Strategic River Crossings'. The evidence said:"Residents of Halton Borough are in an unusual position in that the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge connects the two parts of the Borough on either side of the River Mersey which is the only practicable way of travelling between the two parts of the Borough. In those circumstances the Government was able to make an exceptional additional contribution to secure free crossings for Halton residents, but has no plans to extend this further.".
The residents of Wirral and Liverpool are just as much cut off by tolls as residents of Runcorn and Widnes would have been if the Government had not agreed that they should not have to pay tolls. If The Tory / Lib Dem government can not see that now, they will still not see it after the May elections.

March 16 - WIRRAL LIB DEM COUNCILLOR ASKS ODD QUESTION
Hat tip to Wirral blogger, John Brace who has pointed out this question from Lib Dem Wirral Councillor P Gilchrist. The question is due to be put to the Wirral Council Leader at the Council's meeting tonight (16th March):The Leader’s Portfolio report states,
“At its meeting on 13th February, the Combined Authority considered proposals for setting the Mersey Tunnel tolls for 2015/16. Following a discussion, the Authority agreed that both the Cash Toll and the Fast Tag Toll for 2015/16 should be frozen at the 2014/15 levels. The CA also proposed to review the whole arrangements in relation to Tunnel Costs and Tolls, particularly in light of the current devolution agenda.
A Task Group, to include myself as Chair of the Combined Authority, and representatives of both the Merseytravel Committee and the Combined Authority, is looking at the issues and will report back in the coming months.”

Question –
Can the leader advise:

(a) Is this work looking into how the Tunnels surplus has been used in recent years?

(b) If and how the Mersey Ferry operations have been supported out of this surplus?

(c) The status of any understanding that surpluses have been spent on transportation schemes of mutual benefit,

If so, might these be drawn together and the projects listed for the information of Members.
It is not clear from the way that the question is phrased whether the councillor is opposed to the rip-off of Tunnels users or whether he wants it to continue, but it seems likely that the councillor, and presumably the other Lib Dems, want the plunder to go on.

This is what the official version says about the discussion and decision on tolls -

The Authority considered a report of the Treasurer regarding the schedule of Mersey Tunnel tolls for 2015/16 which the Merseytravel Committee had considered at its meeting on 12 February 2015.

It was reported that the calculation of the Mersey Tunnel tolls were determined by the County of Merseyside Act 1980, as amended by the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004, with reference to a formula that linked them to movements in the retail price index. This sought to ensure that the value of tolls maintained the same relative value over time as other forms of river crossing using public transport.

In this respect, a recommendation from the Merseytravel Committee was tabled which advised that the level of “Authorised” tolls were set automatically by the rate of inflation each year, using November 1999 as the base year, and “Actual” tolls were then determined by considering matters of a n economic or social nature. Given the fact that, although there had been some growth, this was not uniform or strong across the City Region, and taking into account the effect of the tolls on the local economy, the Merseytravel Committee had recommended a freeze of both the Cash Toll and the Fast Tag Toll for 2015/16 at the 2014/15 levels.

The Chair of the CA to set up a task group to consider options open to the CA to reduce costs of tunnel tolls and its impact on infrastructure and transportation;

The Head of Paid Service of the CA to produce a report for discussion to
inform the setting of tunnel tolls for 2016/17;

The CA to press for a review of the Mersey Tunnel Act in any on-going devolution negotiations.”

In moving the motion, the Mayor highlighted the discrepancy in investment in
respect of the South of England compared to the North. In particular, he referenced
the fact that the tolls were being used to invest in infrastructure rather than driving
down the cost of the tolls and eradicating the debt. He considered that the Combined
Authority should be able to renegotiate the Tunnel Act and requested that a Task
Group, to include the Chairman of the Combined Authority and representatives of
both the Merseytravel Committee and the Combined Authority, be set up to look at
this issue.

In seconding the motion, the Chairman welcomed the proposal to freeze the tolls and agreed that it was timely to review the whole arrangements in this respect, particularly in light of the current devolution agenda.

RESOLVED –That:-

(i) the recommendation of the Merseytravel Committee that the level of
Mersey Tunnel Tolls for 2015/16 be the same as the existing tolls
charged for 2014/15, as set out below, be agreed:-

VehicleClass

AuthorisedToll

2015/16Cash Toll

2015/16Tag Toll

1

£1.90

£1.70

£1.40

2

£3.70

£3.40

£2.80

3

£5.60

£5.10

£4.20

4

£7.40

£6.80

£5.60

(ii) a task group be set up to consider options open to the Combined
Authority to reduce the costs of tunnel tolls and its impact on
infrastructure and transportation.

(iii) the Head of Paid Service of the Combined Authority produce a report
for discussion to inform the setting of tunnel tolls for 2016/17; and

(iv) the Combined Authority press for a review of the Mersey Tunnel Act in
any on-going devolution negotiations.

(NB In accordance with the Authority’s Constitution, Mr R Hough took no
part in the above vote. In addition, Councillor R Polhill requested that it
be recorded that he abstained from the vote as the Borough of Halton does not form part of the legislative arrangements in respect of the Mersey Tunnels Act.)

About the only thing that the authority are responsible for at the moment is Merseytravel, so this 200 million pounds seems to be what Merseytravel have taken from the Council levy, government grants and Tunnels tolls and salted away. Why?
And how has this built up? It can't have fallen into their laps overnight.
It is even more extraordinary as Merseytravel have wasted many millions - on the trams fiasco alone, they spent 70 million pounds.

February 26 - TRANSCRIPT OF PART OF FRIDAY 13TH MEETING OF THE COMBINED AUTHORITY
On the day of the meeting we have a report which started “as is usual at meetings in the new luxury HQ, it was very difficult for the public and press to hear what the members were saying. The only person who can be clearly heard is the chairman; at the start of the meeting he asked members to speak close to the microphones, but he was ignored. Anyway this is the gist of what we were able to see and hear."

At about 1 hour 2 minutes into the meeting, the Authority chairman invites the Merseytravel Committee chairman to speak
The Merseytravel chairman says that despite what the report before the Authority said, the Merseytravel Committee that had met the day before was recommending a freeze on all tolls. He continued:
“The rationale is quite straightforward. Under the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004 we have discretion to take on board economic and social factors, and we acknowledge that whilst, there is some growth in the local economy; welcome that is, we are mindful of the fact that is not uniform and strong across the city region.

So because of that we acknowledge that Tunnels tolls are part of transport costs which do have an effect on the local economy, and we are proposing that freeze. As part of that we acknowledge and we hope that transport operators will reflect on this, particularly large companies, Arriva and Stagecoach act accordingly. We call on them to at least freeze their fares that they charge, or much better bring back some more cost effective, and value for money options.

But specifically with regard to the tunnel tolls 2015/16 the Merseytravel Committee is recommending to the Combined Authority a freeze on all tolls for the next financial year.”
The Authority chairman then invites Joe Anderson, the Liverpool Mayor to speak to a motion.

Joe Anderson reads out his motion, which was slightly different from the printed version -

The Chair of the Combined Authority set up a task group to consider the options open to the Combined Authority to reduce costs of tunnel tolls, and its impact on infrastructure and transportation,

The Head of Paid Service of the Combined Authority to produce a report for discussion to inform the setting of tunnel tolls for 2016/2017, and beyond,

The Combined Authority to press for a review of the Mersey Tunnel Act in any on-going devolution implication negotiations.

He continued:”I think, Chair just asking the members to support this, I think it is absolutely right that we look at the Tunnels and we argue as we have done, you I and each and every local authority member here for the discrepancy between investment in transport infrastructure in the South of this country compared to the North. And for me I think it's something that we have to actually force home, how we believe that the tolls that we have been paying, people have been paying Tunnel tolls for decades now and we still have not been able to eradicate the debt.

There are two issues.

One for me is that we need to address, as a Combined Authority, how we take money from the tolls and invest that in infrastructure. I think that's fundamentally wrong.
I think that all the profits that are made from the Tunnels should go into driving down the Tunnel tolls costs. So I am asking for a review of that by this Combined Authority.

And also plus to take into the heart of the negotiations with Government on further devolution, how we can remove the Tunnel Act itself, or renegotiate the Tunnel Act.
We all accept that there has to be investment in terms of being able to maintaining and keeping operating, and also the staffing costs. So a renegotiation of the Act, or an ability for us to change the Act, is what we should be aiming for. So that is all it's calling for. A task group to be set up, including the chair of Merseytravel itself and the Chief Executive of Merseytravel and the Combined Authority members to look at ways forward...”
One other item that was not previously clear is what the Authority were doing about the £1.1 million that they won't get as they cancelled Merseytravel's planned tolls increase. At about 1 hour 14 minutes into the meeting, The Treasurer to Merseytravel and the Combined Authority mentions this and says "An adjustment to the Budget .. will see a reduction in Tunnels income of £1.1 million, with a corresponding adjustment to the amounts transferred to our reserves for capital financing investment. It does not have any effect on the levy”.
It is not clear which reserves they mean.

February 21 - LETTER THAT WE SENT TO HALTON COUNCILLORSThis letter was sent to Halton councillors on the 20th. It raises Halton Council's involvement with the Mersey Tunnels tolls, and asks whether councillors were aware that the traffic will plummet once there are tolls on the bridges with their "KEEP AWAY FROM HALTON" signs.

February 19 - LETTER IN THE ECHO
A letter from MTUA was published by the Liverpool Echo on Wednesday 18th: "Following Merseytravel's recommendation that all Tunnel tolls be frozen for this year, the Echo commented "Well done to the Merseytravel committee, for listening and acting accordingly regarding tunnel tolls.
"This praise is not deserved. It is clear that Merseytravel wanted to put the tolls up. They only did a U-turn when they heard that Joe Anderson, the Liverpool Mayor, and the other Council leaders would overrule them."

With the Combined Authority now in charge there now seems to be some 'light at the end of the tunnel' and there is the prospect of lower rather than higher tolls. But I fear that we may never see an improvement as Merseytravel has become dependent upon the profits that they make from users of the Tunnels."

"Even though there will be no toll increase in this election year, Merseytravel will make 15 million pounds profit from the Tunnels. How are the Combined Authority going to wean them off that?"

February 18 - TORY REACTION TO LAST WEEK'S EVENTSWirral News Feb 18 - "MPs column 18/02/15: Esther McVey ".
The MPs column has disapeared from what is now the Echo site, but this is how the column started -"I'm pleased Merseytravel has done a u-turn and not increased tunnel tolls. Mersey Tunnel Tolls have a massive disproportionate effect on the people of Wirral and of course on businesses both small and large. The Tunnels Act, brought in by Labour in 2004...".

February 13 - 'AXE TUNNEL TOLLS' LETTER FROM UKIP
This letter from Philip Griffiths, UKIP North West President was published by the Liverpool Echo on Friday: "So there are dedicated fast tag lanes at the Wallasey tunnel to speed up traffic flow. I have a much better idea - do away with the tolls.
That would ease congestion assist struggling small businesses and please commuters.

Motorists are fed up with this highway robbery and being treated as cash cows. It has always been thought by the public that one fine day the debt for the tunnels would be paid off. The most recent figures show a staggering £10m profit and Merseytravel uses the money dropped in the baskets every year for whatever it fancies.

The two tunnels should be regarded as an integral part of the national road system and be toll free and not facing yet another price hike. It is an unfair tax which hits local motorists particularly hard."

February 13 - MORE ON 'THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL'BBC Feb 13 - "Mersey tunnels toll pricing task force to be set up".
Merseytravel told the BBC that "The tunnels were built as a joint venture by local authorities and as such their upkeep and maintenance remains outside of the national highway network." The local authorities built a lot of things, but that does not stop the Government giving them money. The fact is that whether you get help depends on how hard the politicians push the Government. In the case of Merseytravel all they have pushed the Government for in the last 20 years is for an easy way of putting up the tolls and to then let them spend it as they like.

They also told the BBC - "However, there is the benefit that the money raised locally through the tolls is spent locally, unlike road tax and general taxation which goes into a central pot." This is just crazy, we want money from the central pot that all drivers have contributed to. It is not a 'benefit' that Merseytravel does what they like with toll users money.

There was another example of Merseytravel's' philosophy today. They sent out a message to all their 'Fast' Tag customers extolling the benefits of being tagged and saying "the more you travel, the more you save". Drivers who follow this advice will soon find, that all the money in their account ends up in Merseytravel's.

February 13 MTUA REACTION TO TODAY'S DEVELOPMENTS
Today's statements that imply that tolls will in future be gong down rather than up came out of the blue. There is the possibility that these are insincere statements made with both eyes on the elections in May. But until it is proved wrong, we will take them at their word.

After the meeting we gave various verbal statements, but this is what was in our written release after the meeting - "Users of the Tunnels will be pleased that it has been confirmed that we don't face a toll increase for what would have been the third year in a row. But our aim since the MTUA was formed in 2003 is that there should be no tolls at all.

We were very pleasantly surprised at today's decision to look again at the whole question of Tunnels financing and the level of tolls.

We will continue to campaign for the tolls to be scrapped with the Tunnels being financed from the 50 billion pounds a year that the Government takes from roads users. This may take a long time to achieve and in the meantime we will press the Combined Authority to review the situation where, even though this latest increase has been abandoned, Merseytravel will still take over 15 million pounds in profits from users of the Tunnels. We think that this toll tax is unfair, divides families and harms the economy of the city region. We will be asking the Authority to either bring in a substantial tolls reduction or to look at some of the MTUA proposals that Merseytravel have rejected in the past, such as no tolls at weekends.

As well as the continuing Tunnels tolls we are also unhappy about Halton's plan to privatise the Runcorn crossing and toll the old and new bridges from 2017. The Mersey tolls barrier will then extend all the way to Warrington. Last April, Halton joined forces with Merseytravel, so we are considering launching a petition calling for both tolls to be scrapped."

February 13 - MORE ON TODAY'S MEETING OF THE COMBINED AUTHORITY
The meeting started at 11 a.m. and as is usual at meetings in the new luxury HQ, it was very difficult for the public and press to hear what the members were saying. The only person who can be clearly heard is the chairman; at the start of the meeting he asked members to speak close to the microphones, but he was ignored. Anyway this is the gist of what we were able to see and hear.

The meeting started with an hour of verbal reports on 'Transport for the North', 'City Region Growth Plan' and 'City Region Innovation Plan'. The impression given to an outsider is that they may be generating paper rather than creating jobs that would not have sprung up anyway. Though one thing that they seem to be good at is lobbying for money. There was mention of 700 million pounds that the Government had agreed to give to the region for 'road investment' and which was in the 'Growth plan'. We were puzzled as to where all this money was being spent.

When they got onto the tolls increase, as with yesterday’s Merseytravel meeting they ignored the report - which assumed that the tolls were going up.

The chairman of Merseytravel addressed the Combined Authority members and said that despite what the report said, the Merseytravel Committee that had met the day before was recommending a freeze on all tolls.
He said that the 'rationale' for this was that though there had been some economic growth it was 'not uniform or strong'. Believe it or not, he then said that tolls had an effect on the economy and they were therefore suggesting that there be a tolls freeze.

The Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson, then said that he was moving a motion. He said that he wanted to reduce the impact of tolls and wanted changes by 2016/17 including a review of the 2004 Tunnels Act. He said that people has been paying tolls for 'decades' because the Councils were not able to 'eradicate' the debt. He wanted to see an end to using Tunnels profits on anything other than the Tunnels.

The motion was seconded by Phil Davies, the Wirral Council Leader, and Peter Dowd, the Sefton Council Leaser said that he thought it was 'eminently sensible'. Phil Davies then said that the tolls seemed 'to go up inexorably year after year;. He said that the timing of this was excellent with the 'devolution agenda' (whatever that is). He ended that he hoped 'we can make road progress on this' and 'make a decision to lift this huge burden'.

The motion was passed unanimously except that the Leader of Halton Council abstained, and the Leader of St Helens Council was not at the meeting.

The full wording of the motion was -
The Combined Authority calls on:

The Chair of the Combined Authority to set up a task group to consider options open to the Combined Authority to reduce costs of tunnel tolls and its impact on infrastructure and transportation,

The Head of Paid Service of the Combined Authority to produce a report for discussion to inform setting of tunnel tolls for 2016/17,

The Combined Authority to press for a review of the Mersey Tunnel Act in any on-going devolution negotiations.

The item following the tolls increase was the Authority's budget for the year starting in April. As the budget had assumed that there would be a tolls increase, there was now a hole in the budget. All that happened was that an officer pointed out that the budget would need to be changed. No one said how else they would get the income or where the expenditure would be cut. They then passed the budget even though it apparently does not add up!

It started at 2.30pm in the Council chamber in Merseytravel's new HQ.
Unfortunately as usual the press and the one or two members of the public who did turn up could hardly hear anything that was said. There was not a full turnout from the councillors as three of them were absent from one of their most important meetings.
Usually at these meetings the tolls report - the only one that the press and public is interested in - is taken first. But this time they decided to leave it where it was on the agenda - next to last, so we all had had to sit through 75 minutes of boring reports.

One of these reports was the Merseytravel budget for 2015/16. The report assumed that there will be a tolls rise, though an officer came out with the amazing statement that the amount of the tolls had no effect on what Merseytravel spent. As the only other item of income that the Authority has is the Combined Authority Levy, and that also seems to have been provisionally agreed, this is remarkable budgeting.
One of the councillors from St Helens said she thought that the budget report had never been presented so clearly. We thought that it looked the same as in previous years, but with the confusion that it still shows the Levy, even though this is a matter for the Combined Authority that was created last April.

Though what happened with the budget, was not as remarkable as what happened with the tolls increase report. This usually takes at least 30 minutes to deal with, but this year was done and dusted in less than two minutes.
Normally an officer goes through the tolls increase report, but this year the officer said that he would not bother as 'the report speaks for itself' - on this basis they need not have bothered with the 75 minutes that were wasted on the earlier reports.
The reality was not that 'the report speaks for itself', the reality was that the report was to be ignored and had in effect been shredded on orders from above.

The Merseytravel chairman then said that he would be moving a motion that the tolls would be frozen and that:
"The rationale for that is quite straight forward, in the sense that the current Act does give us as members discretion to take on board economic and social factors, across Merseyside. And whilst we acknowledge there are some pockets of economic growth, and welcome that, we are all very mindful of the fact that there is still large elements of the city region where that economic growth is not being felt.

And with that in mind I will be putting forward this motion which acknowledges the fact that Tunnel tolls are part of transport costs which do affect local people and the local economy, accordingly. With that though I would say, and I would say this very strongly, that I hope this is also acknowledged by public transport operators, we are trying to do our bit to support local people. I particularly call upon Arriva and Stagecoach to reflect on this, at the very least freeze their fares for this next year, but actually come back with a much better value for money, cheaper offer for local people, accordingly, and with all that in mind, and if I can then move the motion accordingly, if that is agreeable to everybody."
This was agreed without a formal vote, though as we think that the rules say that individual votes have to be recorded for budget items, we must assume that members by default are recorded as agreeing to whatever is put in front of them unless they dissent.

The chairman and a Labour councillor from the Wirral said that they hoped that the bus companies would also freeze their fares. We would hope so too, but if the bus companies (particularly those that run buses through the Tunnels) can see how much profit Merseytravel are making then they may find the request from Merseytravel to be hypocritical. The lone Tory councillor from the Wirral also welcomed the proposal; the rest of the councillors must have thought that it was best to say nothing as they quickly moved on from their failed attempt to get more Tunnels loot.

At the end the same Wirral Councillor who mentioned the buses seemed to move that Merseytravel seek to have the law amended so that they did not have to go though this rigmarole each year. The chairman seemed to think that was a good idea, but we doubt that the Minutes will record that as a formal decision, because once the May elections are out of the way, Merseytravel will be back next February for their pound of flesh. The only hope is that the new Combined Authority will look at things with a fresh eye and take a fairer view.

February 12 - LATE LETTER
The Echo today published a letter that we sent them on the 9th, when the Liverpool Mayor was in favour of a tolls rise, but published after it was known the he had changed his mind. For what its worth, here is the letter as published - Tunnel is a cash cow
"The Echo reported that the Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson, told them that he 'always said the tunnels should not be used as a cash cow to take money off people'. You also report that he will be voting for a tolls rise.
The fact is that the budget, for the year from April, shows that Merseytravel will be making nearly £17 million profit from the tolls paid by users of the Tunnels. How much do Merseytravel have to plunder from the tolls before the Mayor will agree that users are a 'cash cow' for Merseytravel?
The Echo has also reported that Merseytravel claim that any tolls profit is 'ringfenced for investment in key transport infrastructure projects for use across the Liverpool City Region'.
The profits are not 'ringfenced', they go into the general fund and thus help to finance all of Merseytravel's spending including things like their new HQ, the Beatles Story, the U boat, and the Mersey Tram scheme that they wasted £70 million pounds on."

February 11 - IT'S A MAD BAD WORLD GETS A BIT CRAZIER
On the 8th Feb the Echo reported that Joe Anderson, the Liverpool Mayor, was going to vote on Friday 13th in favour of a tolls increase, they now report he "has stepped in to stop a rise in Mersey Tunnel tolls" - Liverpool Echo 11 Feb - "Mersey tunnel tolls: Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson demands price freeze".
The MTUA is very surprised by this. It was quite clear that the decision to increase the cash tolls had in effect been made and had been built into the budgets for Merseytravel and the Combined Authority.
The announcement by the Mayor is even more surprising as it is only a few days since he told the Echo that he would support the 10p increase "proposed by tunnel bosses".
We commented at the time, that the Mayor seemed to have fallen for the usual PR blitz that tries to mask the vast profit that Merseytravel take from the Tunnels - it will be £15.4 million profit even if the tolls do not go up. We can only assume that the Mayor now realises the real facts and that knowledge has changed his views on whether there should be a tolls increase.
It will be interesting to see what Merseytravel do at their meeting on Thursday afternoon. Will they now decide that they can do without the extra profit, or will they push ahead?
If they do push ahead on Thursday then the final decision will be down to the Combined Authority who meet on Friday morning. At that meeting, each authority has only one vote, so even if the Leader of Wirral Council (who also happens to be the Leader of the Combined Authority) votes with the Mayor, the pair of them can be outvoted by the Leaders of the other Councils on the Authority".

February 11 - FANTASY PENINSULA11 Feb - "Wirral Labour joins growing chorus of disapproval over proposed Mersey Tunnels toll increase".
Some of the MPS who are quoted as being against tolls increases, we know support the tolls. And Angela Eagle was one of the main cheer leaders for Merseytravel when Labour and Lib Dem MPs voted in 2004 to change the law so that Merseytravel could more easily take money from users of the Tunnels.
The Tories at Westminster did strongly oppose the 2004 plan, but since coming to power in 2010 they have done nothing to curb Merseytravel, and it was the Tories who approved the Labour plan to toll the currently free crossing at Runcorn.
We hope that voters will not be fooled by any of these politicians when it comes to the polls in May.

February 10 - PLEA FROM THE DOCK
The Echo asks the public to let Merseytravel off due to extenuating circumstances - 10 Feb - "Mersey tunnel tolls - what's the case for the defence?".
With lines like "most people think they should be paying more... I’ll never complain about the tolls again", it's difficult to tell the difference between this article and a Merseytravel advertisement.

February 10 - ECHO PUBLISHES OUR LETTER on MERSEYTRAVEL'S TAG LANE EXPERIMENT
A letter from us was published on Tuesday 10th in the Liverpool Echo. Your story about Merseytravel reserving some lanes at the Wallasey Tunnel for Fast Tag only users stated that '"Mersey tunnel users have welcomed this".
As fas as the MTUA is concerned this is not correct.
Dedicated lanes may well benefit drivers of tagged cars, but they will disadvantage the majority of drivers who do not have tags.
Perhaps more importantly, having dedicated lanes for any category of users increases the amount of lane changing and the risk of accidents.
What they should be doing is removing the tolls completely, though I see from another story in the Echo that they intend to boost their profits with yet another increase in tolls.

February 8 - IT'S A MAD BAD WORLDLiverpool Echo 8 Feb - "Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson says Mersey tunnels should not be 'cash cow'" lot of comments.
Merseytravel and the politicians obviously believe that they have got away with ripping off Tunnels users for so long that they can say anything that they like and the news media will repeat it to keep the real facts in the dark.
If the Liverpool Mayor does not realise that the Tunnels are already a cash cow, then perhaps he thinks that the MTUA was wrong when we told the Merseytravel councillors & Council Leaders that since 2004 Merseytravel had taken nearly £100 million from the tolls. Or does he think that is small change?
And if Merseytravel believe that the tolls plunder is 'ringfenced for investment in key transport infrastructure projects', then perhaps they need to open their eyes when they next look at their budgets and accounts; they will see that the tolls profits go to their General fund and are not ringfenced.

An MTUA member was witness to an incident a few nights ago. A driver (who was presumably in the Tag only lane by mistake) was asked to reverse out of the fast tag lane and then crashed into the car behind him. Apart from any damage to the cars, this made the lane unusable for a while.

So far this is an isolated incident, but one accident caused by tolls in Connecticut in 1995 was so bad that all tolls were removed throughout the state.

As you might expect there is no British research on accidents due to tolls. But on America's National Transportation Safety Board site there are lots of reports on toll "plazas" accidents. Here is an extract from one -"Backups at toll plazas present a safety hazard; in particular, they tend to increase the incidence of rear-end collisions. ...
Toll authorities nationwide experience rear-end collision rates that exceed other types of collisions, in part because toll plazas interrupt the flow of high-speed traffic to intermittently collect tolls.

February 6 - MORE ON M53 DISRUPTION
According to this press release from the -
Highways Agency - "£2.8 million M53 bridge repairs underway", Merseytravel are suggesting that drivers who normally use the M53 could use the Birkenhead Tunnel instead of the Wallasey Tunnel. If drivers paid any attention to this advice, the most likely result would be increased congestion on the streets of Birkenhead.

February 5 - BACK TO THE FUTURE
The Combined Authority published on the 5/6th their agenda for their meeting on Friday 13th. It includes this - Report on the Tolls. It seems that they already know that the tolls increase is to be approved on the 12th. You would think that this would be against the rules, but that is not a problem if you have a converted DeLorean to hand.

January - 'TRAFFIC CHAOS AS TUNNEL IS CLOSED'
This was the headline on an Echo story of the 28th which did not appear online. On the night of the 27th there had been heavy traffic due to the combination of a Reds football match and a Strictly Come Dancing Live show at the Echo Arena. Despite this , the Birkenhead tunnel was closed. One person who was caught up in the chaos said that the tunnel closure was 'absolutely disgraceful'.

January - ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS ROAD PRIVATISATIONNew Civil Engineer 26 Jan - "Contractors welcome "important step" for Infrastructure Bill".
You will have seen nothing about this in most of the news media, but on the 26th, MPs from all parties passed a bill though the Commons which it is feared will lead to the privatisation & tolling of main roads. Only one MP (John McDonnell, a Labour MP for a West London constituency) even bothered to mention the threat.
Nothing will now happen until after the May election when the sheep no doubt will have voted in another pack of wolves - either this lot or one that is virtually the same.

January - LIVERPOOL MAYOR'S DREAM -
Larry Neild has an interview on City Talk with Joe Anderson which is reported in Liverpool Confidential on 3 January.
The report ends with the Mayor saying - "I’d like to campaign for the Mersey tunnels debt to be paid off by the Government so we can cap tunnel fees at £1.50 to cover maintenance costs. It is difficult to get such things if we are not united."
The Mayor must have been reading the usual fairy stories from Merseytravel if he believes that you would need a £1.50 toll 'to cover maintenance costs'. The cost of maintaining the tunnel would be covered by a toll of about 30 pence. Even if you also made the drivers pay for the capital jobs, 'police', waste and toll collection, it would still be less than one pound.